Cranberry Mince Pies

I am signing off this year with these gorgeous Cranberry Studded Mince Pies. I have used Pedro Ximenez instead of ruby port.

Sending these to the lovely host Sarah of Maisoncupcake's 

monthly blogger’s challenge “Forever Nigella”, an event for food bloggers to celebrate Nigella Lawson’s recipes.

Merry Xmas everyone and a Happy New Year!

Ingredients (Adapted from Nigella Lawson)

For the Pastry:

Ingredients 240g plain Flour
60g Vegetable shortening
60g cold Butter
Juice of 1 Orange
Pinch of salt approx.
Mincemeat
Icing sugar for dusting
For the Mincemeat
75g soft dark Brown sugar
60ml Pedro Ximenez
300g cranberries
1 tsp ground Cinnamon
1 tsp ground Ginger
½ tsp ground Cloves
75g Currants
75g Raisins
30g dried Cranberries
1 Clementine, zest and juice
25ml Brandy
Few drops Almond extract
½ tsp Vanilla extract
2 tbsp Honey
Method:
Bring the pedro ximenez and sugar to boil in a pan so that the sugar dissolves. Add the cranberries , along with the cinnamon, ginger, cloves, currants, raisins, dried cranberries and the zest and juice of the clementine. Simmer and cook for 20 minutes, or until the fruit has gone mushy and has absorbed most of the liquid in the pan. Take off heat and allow to cool . Add the brandy, almond extract, vanilla extract, honey and stir well. Store the mincemeat into sterilized jars in the fridge for up to two weeks.
Take the flour in a bowl and add bits of vegetable shortening into the bowl, add the butter, diced small, and then put in the freezer for a bit.  Mix together the orange juice and salt  leave in the fridge to chill. Put the chilled flour and fat into the food processor and whiz until you’ve got crumbs. Pour the juice down the funnel, pulsing as the dough comes together. If all your juice is used up add some iced water. Turn the mixture  onto a  work surface and combine to form a ball of dough & pat into a disc. Wrap disc in cling film and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Grease tiny cupcake or tart tins. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Roll out the disc into a thin rectangle. Cut out circles a little wider than the indentations in the tart tins using a fluted cookie cutter. Press these circles gently into the moulds and Spoon the mincemeat into the moulds. Cut-out slightly smaller discs out of the dough and cover the pies. Bake them in the oven for 10–15 minutes. Cool and dust with icing sugar. Use stencils if you want designs like mine.